Donating to a museum?

[seadude]

I recently had a really crazy idea, but I'm not sure if it'll ever come to fruition.
For the last 2 years, I have been so enraptured with the history, and the model building of, a HMS Habakkuk ice aircraft carrier. The 1/700 scale model is done and already in the MW gallery back in June this year.
http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/misc/whatif/habakkuk-700-em/index.html
But now, I seem to be turning my thoughts to a bigger and far crazier future "possible" project: A 1/350 (Almost 6 feet long!) scale Habakkuk carrier, but detail the crap out of it and show the FULL interior from bow to stern. It's an impossible project due to little or no blueprints and technical diagrams, etc. But I have already begun formulating notes, calculations, specifications, etc. just in case I actually do this project in the future.
But here's the thing: I don't want to do this for myself. I can't keep a 6 foot model in my small apartment as I don't have the room. I had the thought of what if I donated it to a museum? I was thinking of the following:
1. Jasper, Canada is where a small scale Habakkuk prototype was built and tested on a lake. There is a museum here: http://www.jaspermuseum.org/
2. Would the Royal Naval Museum be interested in such a display? After all, Project Habakkuk was originally a British idea/concept. They have a website here: http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/index.htm

How would I go about pitching such an idea/concept for a large model display to a museum? What questions should I be asking? And if the above museums wouldn't be interested in such a display, then who would?

[Mr.Creak]

How would I go about pitching such an idea/concept for a large model display to a museum?

I'd just try the simple approach: e-mail (or personal visit) and ask, straight out - "I'm considering building a detailed model of X, it's within your purview, would you be at all interested in taking it off my hands (or having a look at it with regard to so doing) when it's finished?"

They'll probably direct you to someone who can answer the question, ask if you're thinking of charging them for it!, and you can go on from there...

What questions should I be asking?

First one would be "who do I talk to about...?"
Once you're in contact with that person they'll probably be asking the questions (and zey probably haff vays off making you answer!)


Asking only takes up some of your time, you've nothing to lose.

(Damn! I just realised: I used to know the guy that did the AFV models that were displayed in the Beverley Museum of Army Transport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Army_Transport) but I lost touch with him years ago. Could have asked how he'd gone about it...)

[rickshaw]

Glancing at the Jasper museum website, it doesn't seem to fit their collections very well.

The naval museum might be interested but if you're not in the UK, I doubt they'd pay for transport of such a large object.

In both cases, if I was curator, before I accepted such a large object I'd have to ask whether I really had the space to either store or display a six foot long model of what was a curiosity and in reality was never actually built in real life.   The smaller 1/700 scale one would far more likely to find a home, simply because it is a much more manageable size.

[Joe C-P]

First, check with your intended donation sites. Write them, state your intentions with full details, and ask for their approval. DO NOT PROCEED UNTIL YOU HAVE A POSITIVE RESPONSE unless you don't mind having a 6 foot model filling your basement/garage/attic/bedroom. Be prepared to compromise; they may like your idea but not have the room for a 6 foot model, so you may reconsider the scale. Some museums are more flexible than others with what they display.

Second, the model must be built of long-duration materials, of the best quality, and to the highest quality and most accurate detail. While you are working on a what-if, you still need to carefully research the history of the project, including the scale version built and tested. You are not building a model, you are presenting history for educational purposes. The depiction must last decades and be able to survive being moved more than once. Beyond building, you need to document your sources and explain your interpretation.

Finally, unless you don't mind your project ending up in a storage shed or dumpster, or sold off, make certain they understand what you want done with it if they no longer can use it. Mark your model in a non-visible location with your name and contact information, and get an agreement in writing.

[dadlamassu]

Ideally you need to select a museum with some connection to your project.  For example, one that has a connection with naval aviation and someone connected with the project - a local author who wrote about it, a designer or the chap who proposed it? 

That said, it is such a vague project that you might want to search out a museum that specialises in the unusual though I've no idea where you might find one. 

I doubt that a mainstream museum will take much interest unless they have a lot of space or are looking for something as a "draw" for a special exhibition.  For example an exhibition on the uses of water (ice) or other natural resources.

[PR19_Kit]

When the RAF Museum was being planned at Hendon in the 70s I did some of the models there, that is when they HAD a model collection.

The Museum asked various modellers, via the IPMS as I recall, if they'd like to contribute and presumably they had checked on our credentials somehow. I built two models, a Hiurricane IID and a B-24D Liberator as well as half of the S-6B Schneider Trophy winner and all went into the Museum's glass cases for many years.

When they decided on a change of plan and closed down the model display no-one there ever had the courtesy to tell us and no-one knows where the collection went to! It would have been nice to have them offered back to us but it's impossible to track down what happened now.

Take note of what JoeP said and get the 'end game' conditions on paper before you start anything.....

[martinbayer]

The Royal Naval Museum and Jasper-Yellowhead Museum both have pages for inquiries on making item donations, as does for example also the Imperial War Museum:

http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/collections_donations.htm

http://www.jaspermuseum.org/form%20intend%20to%20donate.html

http://collections.iwm.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.24499

Although the process is typically geared towards historical objects and already existing artifacts, I think it's still a good initial avenue to pursue. I would expect most other relevant museums have similar pages. A list of potential candidates is here:

http://classicairliners.tripod.com/maritimemuseums.html

Martin

[seadude]

Second, the model must be built of long-duration materials, of the best quality, and to the highest quality and most accurate detail. While you are working on a what-if, you still need to carefully research the history of the project, including the scale version built and tested.

And therein lies the problem.   To keep this model exhibit lightweight for moving and handling, the main hull would be built out of styrofoam. Not only for that reason, but also for the fact that the styrofoam would be used to simulate the pykrete ice blocks/walls, etc.  In fact, three major sources of building materials for this project are styrofoam, balsawood, and Evergreen plastic sheet, rod, etc.
As for history and references, there's not much I can do about that. I have checked the Internet far and wide. There is no FINAL design, specifications, etc. since a real Habakkuk was never built.
And even if such a model exhibit never makes it into a museum, I may still decide to build it "just for the hell of it". As for what would happen to it after I completed it is anybody's guess.  
And as I said before earlier, I'm thinking of building it to show the full interior cross-section of the inside of the Habakkuk: Crew spaces, Engine room areas, Aircraft hangars, Refridgeration plants and ductwork, etc., etc.  It would sorta be similar to this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/habbakukmodel/habakkuk0ot.jpg
Or this.......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/habbakukmodel/3668383815_9b6ba59610.jpg

[Hobbes]

Styrofoam wouldn't have to be a problem. You'd need to cover it with e.g. styrene plating, and maybe add a wooden keel to add structural strength.

[Mossie]

If your worried about styrofoam breaking, you coud use EPP (expanded polypropylene) foam instead.  It's used for RC aircraft & is very tough but easily shaped.  IIRC you can can buy it in large blocks?

[deathjester]

If your worried about styrofoam breaking, you coud use EPP (expanded polypropylene) foam instead.  It's used for RC aircraft & is very tough but easily shaped.  IIRC you can can buy it in large blocks?

I buy mine on eBay, from a chap who's user name is '02robbo' - very good prices, and he will do rather long lengths of it if you want...

[seadude]

If your worried about styrofoam breaking, you coud use EPP (expanded polypropylene) foam instead.  It's used for RC aircraft & is very tough but easily shaped.  IIRC you can can buy it in large blocks?

I buy mine on eBay, from a chap who's user name is '02robbo' - very good prices, and he will do rather long lengths of it if you want...

The whole Habakkuk hull would be made from not "sheets" of styrofoam, but rather "cubes". I want to create the hull as realistically as what might have been done if a real Habakkuk were built. The picture here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/icyhusky/habbakukmodel/3668383815_9b6ba59610.jpg
........shows that the Habakkuk would've been made from "blocks" of pykrete about 20 feet square. In 1/350 scale, that's roughly 3/4" inch square. I've already contacted a styrofoam website company for an estimate for 500  3/4" x 3/4" cubes of styrofoam. Estimated price was $300. Chances are though, I'll probably need 1500 cubes.
Anyway, I ordered and recieved a Plastruct catalog. I'll be browsing that over the next several weeks to decide what styrene shapes would be good for construction. And I'll be buying some special drawing paper probably this weekend to start making the full size blueprints over the next few weeks.
Even if I don't build this project, I'm still going to research it and plan for it just for the hell of it. And if I don't do it in the future, then maybe someone else might and I'll send them my plans and notes in case other people want to build a large scale Habakkuk..

[pyro-manic]

As for history and references, there's not much I can do about that. I have checked the Internet far and wide. There is no FINAL design, specifications, etc. since a real Habakkuk was never built.

I'm sure I don't need to say this, but I will anyway: not everything is on the internet. Have you contacted the relevant institutions (the National Archives at Kew in London, the Archaeology Dept. of the University of Calgary - who will know about the testing done at Patricia Lake - any historians specialising in Combined Operations HQ, National Research Council of Canada and so on) to obtain copies of all the extant documentation? You may find some interesting things. Of course, you might find nothing useful at all, but you could turn up information that could be very useful for your project.

As an aside, it might be a good idea to incorporate as much "reality" into the project as possible - perhaps build a model of the Canadian test rig as well, or incorporate discussion/images/models of related projects and the COHQ in general? That would, I would think, make a display much more appealing to a museum than a completely pie-in-the-sky idea that never actually got very far.

[seadude]

I'm sure I don't need to say this, but I will anyway: not everything is on the internet. Have you contacted the relevant institutions (the National Archives at Kew in London, the Archaeology Dept. of the University of Calgary - who will know about the testing done at Patricia Lake - any historians specialising in Combined Operations HQ, National Research Council of Canada and so on) to obtain copies of all the extant documentation? You may find some interesting things. Of course, you might find nothing useful at all, but you could turn up information that could be very useful for your project.

Nice idea, but........I'm not keen on going through a lot of "red tape" and "filling out paperwork", etc., etc., etc. just to get more information. Even the museum in Jasper that I linked to in my original post CHARGES a fee for information searches, etc. I don't have the financial resources right now to pay a bunch of museums or other sites to look for more information for me. Maybe at a later time next year, but not right now.